“Our goal is to become a reference for everyone who needs a training course”

This is the goal of Appcademos, a new training course search platform founded by three spanish students. Nacho Campomanes (partner of Appcademos) talks about his experience as a young entrepreneur and the creating process of a Startup.

What led you to the idea of ​​wanting to undertake an adventure such as creating a new Startup?

I would say it’s something internal. Something we have inside that moves us to do something new, an idea that becomes a goal. In our particular case was the idea of changing the way people look for training courses. That’s what inspires us everyday and what keeps our motivation.

What does a Startup need in order to be successful?

That’s a good question…(laughs). The first thing would be finding a nice group from three to four people maximum. Secondly, define what you are trying to offer and focus on it without trying to cover too many things. The next steps would be immerse yourself as much as you can in your topic, learn and be very sure about your investments. You need to get out and move. Talk with people about your idea in order to know if it’s going to be something interesting for them or not.

From your experience, what is the most difficult thing when creating a Startup?

In the initial stage, the most difficult thing is to find an idea that solves a problem and fits in the market at the same time. One thing is finding a solution for a problem and another thing is make it worth paying for that solution. Once you have find that “profitable solution” you’re trying to offer, the most difficult thing is to find investments for your Startup. You need money to be able to sign programmers or whoever you need to make your team and your company grow.

“Having a nice group is one of the most important things to build a Startup”

Regarding the creation of Appcademos, which role played the fact that all partners were no older than 22 ?

I think that the age doesn’t play a role for itself but it is true that there are lots of advantages and disadvantages that are somehow linked to it. In our particular case, the fact of being young has give us the advantage of having less responsibilities in the sense that we still live with our parents and we don’t have to maintain a family or things like that, so we can dedicate a lot of time to work on our Startup. From the psychological point of view I think that youth could give us some extra enthusiasm related to these “hunger for success” we have. It also makes us more deluded, in a good way, as we don’t spend more time on trying to make things work than measuring risks or things like that. In the other hand, a senior profile would probably have the advantage of being experienced in other companies or enterprises, which is always really helpful. Experience is in my opinion one of the most important values nowadays.

Do you need to invest a lot of money?

We need to make a differentiation. Regarding the validation of our idea, evaluate if it could fit in our market, the answer would be: “no”. If we take the responsibility to do the market research work by ourselves we would not need a lot of money, just work and time. If we talk about making it grow, the answer would be: “yes”. Most of the Startups begin to generate benefits during their third or fourth year. That means that during that time you will need someone who supports all costs, like salaries or marketing campaigns, in order to make it growth and become a sustainable and profitable company in a future.

“If you want something,  you have to make the effort and go for it”

How much time does a Startup need to be profitable?

The percentage of Startups who are able to survive is 1% or less. For that small part of Startups who achieve to be sustainable it’s really difficult to establish an average time to be profitable. It depends on many different aspects, sometimes a Startup explodes from one year to another and you got a Snapchat and sometimes after six or seven years your growth is still slow. It’s really difficult to say.

How important is to have a nice group of people?

In my opinion is one of the most important things when building a new Startup. You have to try to build a multidisciplinary group from three to four people at the beginning. That means that you should try to build up your team with people who are specialized in different types of tasks. You really need to be sure that your team has full confidence in the idea so that you can have a solid base for the project.

What has an adventure like this brought to you personally? 

I’m glad to say that I’m learning a lot through this experience. I’ve learned how different sections of a business work and how to face everyday problems with determination and cold mind. I also learned to be as organized and productive as possible in order to have time for my friends and family. And the most important thing, if you want something you have to make the effort and go for it. There is no other way.

What would you say or recommend to all these people who have an idea but doesn’t venture themselves to try to execute it?

I will tell them: “Do it”. But don’t just go and begin to do random things. Explain your idea to your friends or relatives and ask them to be critic with your idea. They have to be sincere, otherwise would be useless. Determine your target, go out and ask the people what they think about it. There is no one better than your potential target to give you a feedback of what they think. It may be hard at first but you will realize soon that most part of the people would be happy to help you.